Net Carbon Zero Certification

We are thrilled to announce that Lava Glass has achieved carbon neutral status and is the first glassblowing studio in the world to have done so!

Our efforts prove that it is absolutely possible to pursue the art of glassblowing and work with glass, an energy-intensive material with a large carbon footprint, while upholding environmental values.

But what does it mean to be a carbon zero business? It means that we have measured our company’s carbon emissions via independent auditing by Toitū Envirocare. This year we had to offset 90.14 tonnes of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) but now it is all about drastically reducing these carbon emissions.

The initiatives we have taken to reduce our emissions include:

- electric furnace in the glassblowing studio
- electric vehicles for business use
- waste reduction
- Geami Wrap for packaging glass art
- making certain products unavailable for international shipping
- planting 24,000 trees in 2020 and 75,000 trees in 2021.

This past year the biggest source of our emissions was LPG used to run our furnace. In March 2021 we switched to an electric furnace which reduced our LPG consumption by two thirds. Furthermore, together with Toitū Envirocare, we developed a Greenhouse Gas emissions management plan and reduction targets for the coming years.

We believe in going the extra mile for sustainability and see our Toitū Carbonzero Certification (an internationally recognized assessment) as an effective way to reduce our environmental impact.

At Lava Glass we strive to be at the forefront of environmentally aware art-making.

Our carbon zero journey is featured in Glass Quarterly. Please find the article 'The owners of the world's first certified carbon-neutral studio on why it's the only way they will continue to work with glass' here.